HILLARY RODHAM Clinton started out in national politics quipping, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do is fulfill my profession." Four years later, this political heavyweight confessed to the Democratic National Convention, "I wish we could be sitting around a kitchen table, just talking about our hopes and fears, about our children's futures." She got more power from trading in her policy hat for an apron.

Mrs. C suffered from dismal poll ratings, only to find herself enjoying high numbers by standing Tammy Wynette-like by her man after he stepped out on her. She was most loved as a doormat. Now she seems set to run for the New York Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan because she was disappointed in love. Former White House aide Harold Ickes said yesterday that she will form an exploratory committee for a Senate run next month.

Call it "Divorce, Clinton Style." The imitation of divorce that allows the first couple to live in separate cities after their imitation of marriage.

Now she's eyeing the U.S. Senate. Makes you want to sing, "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places."

La Clinton's decision means more dwelling on Clinton home life for America. It was bad enough that revelations about Monica Lewinsky set punditry to examine whether Hillary loved Bill -- not the other way around.

It stunk before when America branded her the cold one in the marriage -- when it was he who was the one with the cold, misogynistic definition of sexual relations.

Then there was the way the White House leaked President Clinton's alleged confession to his wife that he had strayed. Clintonia spun Hillary no longer as a sharp lawyer, but instead as a wife as blind as her blind trust. The buzz said Hillary Clinton was shocked. Sure. Now she's campaigning with marriage jokes. The New York Times Magazine reported, Mrs. C told an audience, "I know that there are problems. I mean, marriage is hard -- it is hard work, and I'd be the first to tell ya." She grinned. The crowd roared. She added, "But when you have a child, you have a special obligation."

Forget that she knew Clinton was a philanderer before having his baby. Forget that their daughter is in college. Forget that marriage is hard work for her, not him. He, after all, got to date.

It's wrong for the first lady to speak as if most marriages are hard like hers. Most husbands are faithful to their wives, and that's a point that gets lost when the first lady talks about marriage.

It almost makes you miss her line about the "vast right-wing conspiracy." At least that wasn't an appeal for the victims' vote.

Fox News reports that Ickes has started collecting resumes for her new staff. I wonder: Will Ickes not hire delicious looking young things in order to keep the husband away from temptation? Or will there be an Evelyn Lieberman who watches to make sure none of the interns gets too chummy with The Big He? Is that what we can expect from the first feminist first lady turned U.S. senator?

Ah, but she's more than first lady, she's the first victim. It's almost funny. Rodham Clinton thought she was a victim when the press reported how she went overboard canning the travel office staff. She thought she was a victim when reporters pestered her about how she turned a $1,000 investment into a $100,000 windfall in the commodities market. She thought she was a victim when questioned about long-lost subpoenaed billing records that miraculously turned up one day. She played the victim when she had to answer questions about Gennifer, then Paula, then Monica.

Now she's running as a victim of love, but also a victim with her own mission. A victim not to help him get a job, but finally for her own job. Hillary Rodham Clinton, her own woman at last.